The Earliest Land Grants in the Miami AreaBy HENRY S. MARKS

Miami did not become large enough in population and promise to beincorporated until 1896, but there was human activity in the region longbefore that date. White men had attempted settlement first in 1565. At thattime the southern part of the Floridian peninsula was the home of tworelated tribes of aborigines who had made it their home for some 1500 years.The western portion, from Tampa Bay to the Keys, belonged to a confedera-tion called the Calusa. The east coast, from Cape Canaveral to the Keys,was the domain of several small independent tribes. Prominent among themwere the Tequestas, located on Biscayne Bay.

In 1565 the Spanish King commissioned Pedro Menendez de Aviles todrive the French from Florida and colonize the land for Spain. The storyof his efforts in establishing St. Augustine is familiar to readers of Floridahistory. But Menendez also was anxious to pacify and settle the southerncoast in order to protect refugees from shipwreck along the Florida reef, tohave a port of refuge in case of storm, and to have this area occupied bypeople friendly to Spain.

As the Spanish considered Christianization of the Indians as importantfor their purposes as colonization, aid was sought from the Jesuits. Two men,Father Rogel and Brother Villareal, landed in Tequesta in the early part of1567, Menendez establishing a fort and a small garrison on Biscayne Bay.'

Later the two Jesuits divided forces, Rogel going to the village of Carloson the west coast, leaving Brother Villareal in charge of the mission onBiscayne Bay. But Brother Villareal did not succeed in Christianizing theTequestas, nor in winning them as allies for Spain. In this he was not alone,however, for after a few years the Jesuits abandoned the whole field ofFlorida.,

Thereafter a long period elapses before there is any attempt at perma-nent settlement by white men near the mouth of the Miami River. The firstrecorded evidence of land grants within the present Miami area did not comeuntil 1774, during the British occupation of Florida. During that year John

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Augustus Ernest (a German, secretary to Count Bruhl, a Saxon statesmanwho was prime minister in virtual control of Saxony and Poland from 1746to 1763) received a grant of twenty thousand acres "on Gulph Sandwichcommonly called the Sound of Biscayne about 290 miles South of St.Augustine."3 This grant, as did most other large ones issued during theEnglish occupation of Florida from 1763 until 1783, came from an Order inCouncil.

Ernest was to settle this grant with foreign Protestants in the proportionof one to every one hundred acres, plus the payment of quitrents and severalminor stipulations. However, by his own admission, he never cleared any ofthe land nor complied with any of the other conditions, stating that he wasprevented from doing so by the breaking out of the Revolutionary War. Hefurther stated that in 1777 he had engaged seventeen Swiss and German Prot-estants to settle upon the grant, but that these people were detained in Englandfor more than three months and were then prevented from embarking forthe grant by an order of George Germaine, secretary of state for the Britishcolonies from 1775 to 1782. Germaine had refused to grant passage sayingthat it would strengthen the rebellion, as the agent of the claimants, Dr.Andrew Turnbull, was disaffected to the government. 4 The only activity onthe grant was the locating and surveying as it was never appraised to establishany value. Thus the first attempt to settle a specific grant within the presentMiami area came to naught.

During the second Spanish occupation of Florida, 1783-1821, as in theearlier administrations of Florida, the King of Spain, or officials actingunder his authority, granted lands. These grants were made to any person,whether native or naturalized Spaniard, 5 who would settle and cultivatethem, the period of residence required to clear title usually being ten years.Nothing was required in way of payment except fees to the officials whoprepared and registered the title papers. One hundred arpents were usuallygranted to the heads of families, fifty arpents to each child, and twenty-fivefor each slave. 6

On the lower east coast there were five such grants. The earliest wasmade to a Pedro Fornells in 1790 for "175.00 acres" on "Key Biscayno."7The other grants were made to the following: T(P)olly Lewis in 1805 for"640 acres South of River Miami"; James Hagen8 in 1810 for "640 acres,North Miami River, Cape Florida"; Mrs. Hagen, the mother of James Hagen,in 1810 for "640 acres, South Miami River, Cape Florida"; and for JonathanLewis, in 1813 for "640 acres near Cape Florida." 9

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When the United States acquired possession of Florida by the treaty ofSt. Ildefonso, the treaty provided for the full acceptance by this country ofthe land grants made by the Spanish government under authority of theSpanish king, provided they dated not later than January 24, 1818.10

The Congress of the United States, in order to check the validity of theSpanish grants, passed on May 8, 1822 "An Act for ascertaining claims andtitle to land within the territory of Florida". This act provided for theestablishment of two adjudication boards of three commissioners each tosettle separately claims in East and West Florida. The board representingEast Florida was to maintain headquarters in St. Augustine.

To obtain a valid title to each grant lying within the confines of EastFlorida the grantee or his or her heirs or assigns had to present before thisboard any and all proof of the validity of the grant under question. Thefirst of the Miami area claims to be brought before this board was the granton Key Biscayne held by a Mrs. Mary Ann Davis, who had acquired theproperty from the descendants of Pedro Fornills.= Mrs. Davis, in her pre-sentation, claimed title to a "tract' of land containing one hundred and sev-enty-five acres, situated, lying, and being in an island called Key Buskin".However, it is stated here that the grant was issued to Peter Fornills byGovernor White on January 18, 1805, that Fornills was compelled to aban-don the settlement because of the war between Great Britain and Spain, andthat Fornills died shortly afterward. Also, that his widow being unable tocontinue the settlement, the grant was passed to Raphael Andrews, her sonand legal heir. Mrs. Davis purchased the grant from Andrews, a certifiedcopy of the conveyance, dated July 12, 1824, being presented to the com-mission.

Mrs. Davis, as further proof of the authenticity of her claim, presentedto the board three depositions taken before Elias B. Gould, Justice of thePeace for St. John's County.12 The first one is by Peter Miranda who claimsto have known Fornills and states that Fornills had purchased a schoonerto proceed to the island, and that Fornills had told Miranda some time laterthat he had been on the island. The second deposition was by one BartoloPounce, who states that his father and Fornills left St. Augustine about 1804to settle Key Buskin, but had to return to St. Augustine because of the warbetween Great Britain and Spain. The third deposition was that of JohnPounce, who states that he was on the island about 1804 and that he did notthink that it contains more than 175 acres fit for cultivation. He also

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stated that there was a man named Vincent then living on the island and thathe saw guinea corn and coffee growing on the key.

The adjudication board, taking into consideration the above depositionsand the original concession by the Spanish governor White to Pedro Fornills,deemed the grant a valid one, and confirmed it to Mrs. Davis. This was doneon December 21, 1824.13

The other Miami area grants were presented before the commission inSt. Augustine on November 24, 1824. Those applying for confirmation wereJames Hagen; his mother, Rebecca Hagen, listed as Mrs. Hagens; Polly andJonathan Lewis. The first of these grants to be validated, on December 23,1825, belonged to Polly Lewis, for "six hundred and forty acres, under thedonation act, on the east side of Miami River, near Key Biscayno".

The remaining three grants were all confirmed on December 27, 1825.They were "Jonathan Lewis, six hundred and forty acres, river Miami, nearcape Florida; . . . Mrs. Hagens, six hundred and forty acres, river Miami,near Cape Florida; James Hagens, six hundred and forty acres, river Miami,near Cape Florida."14

Between 1830 and 1835 the Hagens and Jonathan and Polly Lewis 15

conveyed their holdings to R. R. Fitzpatrick, originally from Columbia, SouthCarolina, who had moved to Key West and was afterward collector of cus-toms there.

Fitzpatrick took possession of the four properties, later consolidatingthem into one tract. He then erected buildings on the property, and broughtin from South Carolina a number of slaves to work his plantation. He hadpurchased these slaves from his sister Harriet English, also of Columbia, forthe cultivation of cotton. This was not unusual, for cotton was to be exten-sively cultivated in this area from 1830 to 1837. Fitzpatrick also clearedalmost all of the large body of hammock on the bay-front extending fromwhat was the north line of the city of Miami in1896 to down below the PunchBowl, almost one mile south of present Coconut Grove. He also plantedlimes, guavas and other tropical trees, remnants of which greeted early set-tlers at the turn of the century.

However, Fitzpatrick's claim to success was to be short lived, for in 1835the Seminole War broke out in the northern part of the state. The Indiansand Negroes were driven steadily southward. Towards the close of the warFitzpatrick had to move his Negroes to Key West in order to keep them from

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deserting to the Seminoles. Fitzpatrick, deciding that safety was the betterpart of valor, departed with them.

After his departure the plantation was used as quarters for a companyof United States sailors under the command of Lieutenant L. M. Powell.These troops decided to name the main home of the Fitzpatrick plantation"Fort Dallas" in honor of Commodore Alexander James Dallas, then in com-mand of United States naval forces in the West Indies.

From Fort Dallas, by way of the Miami River, expeditions into theinterior of the peninsula sought out Seminoles for removal to the west. Themost famous of these Indian hunting missions was that of Colonel WilliamS. Harney who went in after Chief Chakaika who had murdered Henry Perrineduring a raid on Indian Key.

This Seminole War came to an end in 1842 but Fitzpatrick, who hadbecome seriously involved financially due to the war, was forced to conveyhis holdings to his nephew William F. English. This was accomplished onMay 20, 1843.16

William English entered Florida during a ten year period of muchactivity, both territorially and locally. Of much importance to the southernpart of the peninsula was the establishment of a new county. This county,created on February 4, 1836, was named after Major Dade, who had beenmassacred by the Seminoles in 1836, several miles from the WithlacoocheeRiver. The area of Dade County was immense, for it commenced at the westend of Bahia Honda Key, ran in a direct line to Lake Okeechobee, thence ona direct line to the head of the North Prong River (a branch of the Potomac),commonly known as the Hillsborough River and then down the Hillsboroughto the Atlantic Ocean. However, the inclusion of such a large territory underthe confines of a single unit was not without political machinations. Forexample, the southern confines of the county was set at Bahia Honda Keyso as to include Indian Key. This was done through the political persuasionsof one Jacob Houseman, who owned the key and wished to create a thrivingcommunity there. Houseman was also successful in getting the territoriallegislature to make Indian Key the site of the county court.17

However, in spite of this increased activity in South Florida, Englishwas not successful. He moved to Miami during 1844, bringing with him anumber of slaves, and endeavored to put the property in order. But theplantation had been badly wrecked - by the United States troops as wellas by the Seminoles. The troops had cut down the lime groves planted by

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Fitzpatrick, so as to allow an unobstructed view from Fort Dallas, to detectany approach by the Seminoles. The United States Government finally paidfor these damages in 1877, awarding the heirs of Fitzpatrick $12,000.

William English went to Columbia in 1845 to procure additional slavesfrom his mother, Harriet English. On his return to Florida English beganto neglect the plantation, for he spent considerable time in Key West withhis uncle Fitzpatrick, with whom he was associated in commercial and ship-ping enterprises.

Both Fitzpatrick and English now succumbed to the lure of gold inCalifornia. In 1851 they sailed for the gold fields. They managed to sailaround Cape Horn successfully, but were forced into a Mexican port onthe Pacific coast by a storm and a scarcity of provisions. They resumedtheir journey and managed to reach California safely. It is said that Englishintended to return to Florida. He never made it back, for he accidently shotand killed himself at Grasse Valley, California in 1855.

From 1850 to 1869 the English plantations at Miami were unfortunatelyneglected, but on November 30, 1869 a Dr. J. V. Harris (later a resident ofKey West) purchased the 610 acres belonging to English on the north sideof the Miami River and promptly settled upon it.

Dr. Harris was the first in a long line of possessors of the northern halfof the Fitzpatrick plantation - this succession ending when Mrs. Julia D.Tuttle purchased this part of the property, taking personal possession onNovember 13, 1891, with which the beginning of modern Miami is usuallyassociated.

x Robert E. McNicholl, "The Caloosa Village Tequesta: A Miami of the Sixteenth Cen-tury," Tequesta, March 1941, p. 16.

2 Ibid., p. 17.3 Wilbur Henry Siebert, Loyalists in East Florida, 1774 to 1785, v. 2, Deland, The Florida

State Historical Society, 1929, pp. 52-53.4 Ibid., p. 53. This is the same Andrew Turnbull who attempted to settle and establish

the New Symrna Colony. Fifteen hundred colonists were gathered under the backingof English capitalists led by Turnbull and settled upon a tract of several thousandacres near Mosquito Inlet, which they called New Smyrna. The colonists, underindentures, complained of hardships inflicted upon them by managers or overseersof the colony. As a result of these complaints the colonists were removed to St.Augustine. The cause of Turnbull's alleged "disaffection" can be traced to his feudwith the Governor of Florida at this time, Patrick Tonyn, who finally succeeded inforcing Turnbull from the colony. Vide Passim, Carita Doggett Corse, Dr. AndrewTurnbull and the New Smyrna Colony of Florida, Florida, The Drew Press, 1919.

5 The Royal Order of Spain of 1790 applied to grants to foreigners. These grants, beforethe cession of Florida to the United States, had been sanctioned by the King of Spainand the authorities representing him in Cuba, the Floridas and Louisiana.

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o Arpents were a French measure of land, containing 100 square perches, of 18 feet each,or about an acre (from .84 to 1.28). John Lee Williams, The Territory of Florida:or, Sketches of the topography, civil and natural history, of the country, the climate,and the Indian tribes, from the first discovery to the present time, with a map, views,& c., New York, A. T. Goodrich, 1837.

7 U. S., American State Papers, v. 4, Documents of the Congress of the U. S. in Rela-tion to the Public Lands from the 1st sess, 18th Cong., December 1, 1823 - March3, 1827, Washington, 1859. p. 260.

s Although the original grants are listed to "James Hagen" and "Mrs. Hagen" there arereferences made by other sources concerning this family which list the name asEgan or Eagan. This writer is inclined to accept the name of Egan or Eagan, asgiven in the Dade County deed record books B 216, E 510, Q 253, Q 255 and N 273.

o American State Papers, op. cit., p .to 8 'U. S. Statutes 256 (1819).1 American State Papers, op. cit., pp. 348-349.

12 Ibid.13 Ibid., p. 349.14 Ibid.15 Jonathan Lewis and Polly Lewis were brother and sister and were children of Frankee

Lewis, who had obtained a donation on the New River in 1796 near present dayFort Lauderdale.

16 Monroe County Deed Record Book C, pp. 340-311.17 Compilation of the Public Acts of the Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida

Passed Prior to 1840, p. 271.

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